No, I’m still not over Japanese Breakfast’s “Jubilee”
This album has me in a chokehold, I’m not kidding.
Prior to the release of Michelle Zauner’s “Jubilee”, I had been exposed to exactly one thing about Japanese Breakfast as a whole — this i-D interview. I know, I know — I was pretty late to the game. At that point, Zauner had already been creating vibe-y music for years and had already been covered by several publications, including i-D previously. But I’m not done, I did something worse — I didn’t immediately run to Spotify to hit play on any of her previous songs. Instead, I wrote down her name in my notes app, alongside workout routines I constantly forget about and recipes I’ll never use. I went about my life completely unaware of an artist who would come to change my life.
About a month later, I was in my notes, probably searching something up for my Master’s project or one of my classes when I came across Zauner’s name. Maybe I was procrastinating or maybe it was fate, but for some reason I did what I had never done before — followed up on one of the random, miscellaneous notes I leave to myself.
At that point “Jubilee” wasn’t out yet, so I got started on “Savage Good Boy” and “Be Sweet”, which were. Instant love. I’m not kidding!!! I couldn’t get enough. I had just started a new Spotify playlist (RIP to my old one). The new playlist (which I still listen to, mostly because I refuse to let go of summer) is titled ‘good mood’ and Zauner’s songs fit perfectly, nestled between WizKid and Tems’ “Essence” and “SIMP” by Full Tac, Rico Nasty and Lil Mariko, followed by BTS’ “Butter.” My playlist makes no sense, I know, but that’s besides the point.
Anyway, I had both songs on repeat constantly. I even delved into her older stuff, Road Head is a personal favorite (obviously). So naturally, you’d think I was highly anticipating the release of “Jubilee”. I was, but I was also VERY nervous. You see, here’s my issue with discovering new artists before they’ve dropped a huge body of work, sometimes I don’t like the full album. Sometimes, the couple of singles they drop before the full project is all that does it for me. With Japanese Breakfast, that scared me. I mean, I loved her previous work and really appreciate the talent and effort that went into it and while some of those songs did make their way into my playlists, they just weren’t fitting my current vibe.
The truth is, I have this horrible habit of needing to reinvent myself every three months or I will physically combust. At this point in my life, “Savage Good Boy” and “Be Sweet” were fitting my new vibe, acting as the (un)official soundtrack to my life, and therefore defining the new and improved me. As good as it is and as much as I enjoyed listening to it, Road Head just wasn’t. Do you get what I mean? You may not, but we need to move on.
So the day finally came. It was June 4th, “Jubilee” was out everywhereand my ear was the first listen. I needed to know, will this album be my personality for the next few months? Lo and behold, it was and… still is. I can’t get over it. I’m serious. I spent that first week drinking in the album like I had been parched for a thousand years. I listened to it everywhere: cooking, cleaning, taking a shower, on the subway, going on a stress walk, while being the main character at my local coffee shop and even while working. If you know me, I can’t listen to anything while working. I need the silence of a Buddhist Monastery, but Zauner’s album was different. It totally consumed me. I fell and haven’t gotten up since.
There is just something about the emotions the album (yes, as a whole), releases through me. It’s like when I listen to it, I feel future nostaligia breeding in me. I feel as though, 60 years from now, when I am 83 and living my life old and grey, I’ll hear the guitar solo from “Posing for Cars”, or the trance inducing, boots-and-cats beat of “Side Tackle”, and immediately find myself reminiscing of the good old days. The days when I was young, engulfed in life in New York City and learning more about myself everyday.
This album, is the careful curation of all of my early-twenties growing pains. To me, “Jubilee” is the epitome of the coming-of-age genre — my favorite. It is the soundrack to shedding my old skin and transforming into a new person. It is warm late nights on rooftops with friends, counting change at the farmer’s market, getting a new tattoo and crying in bed, all rolled into one. It’s a sensual dance between misery and euphoria.
I’m at that stage in my life where growing pains are constant. Everyday is different and I feel my life is probably as chaotic as you’d expect a coming-of-age movie to be. If the movie Lady Bird didn’t end with her moving to New York City with her whole life ahead of her and instead chronicled her life there, “Jubilee” would probably be the soundtrack. It’s the soundtrack to my new life here. I wake up everyday in this beautiful mess of a city with my whole life ahead of me and “Jubilee” and in my ears. I keep waiting for the day it gets old, but I don’t think that day will come.
